A85783:713
The Christian in Complete Armour
The Christian in complete armour. Or, A treatise of the saints war against the Devil, wherein a discovery is made of that grand enemy of God and his people, in his policies, power, seat of his empire, wickedness, and chief design he hath against the saints. A magazine opened: from whence the Christian is furnished with spiritual arms for the battle, helped on with his armour, and taught the use of his weapon, together with the happy issue of the whole war. The first part. / By William Gurnall, Minister of the Gospel in Lavenham. Imprimatur, Edmund Calamy.The Christian in compleat armour. Or, A treatise of the saints war against the Devil, wherein a discovery is made of that grand enemy of God and his people, in his policies, power, seat of his empire, wickednesse, and chiefe designe he hath against the saints. A magazin open'd: from whence the Christian is furnished with spiritual armes for the battel, help't on with his armour, and taught the use of his weapon, together with the happy issue of the whole warre. The first part. / By William Gurnall, Minister of the Gospel in Lavenham. Imprimatur, Edmund Calamy.
London: printed for Ralph Smith, 1655
A TREATISE Of the whole Armour Of God. › Introduction › Chapter 10 › Section 2
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
SECT. II.
The second way a soul may be proud of his grace, is by resting on it for his acceptance with God. The Scripture calls inherent grace our own righteousness, (though God indeed be the efficient of it) and opposeth it to the righteousness of Christ, which alone is called the Righteousness of God, Rom. 10.1. Now to rest on any grace inherent, is to exalt our own righteousness above the righteousness of God; and what pride will this amount to? If this ware so, then a Saint when he comes to heaven might say, This is Heaven which I have built, my grace hath purchased; and thus the God of Heaven should become tenant to his creature in Heaven. No, God hath cast the order of our salvation into another method, of grace, but not of grace in us, but grace to us. Inherent grace hath its place and office to accompany salvation, Heb. 6.9. but not procure it. This is Christs ⟨p. 290⟩work, not graces. When Israel waited on the Lord at Mount Sinai, they had their bounds, not a man must come up besides Moses to treat with God, no, not touch the Mount lest they die: thus all the graces of the Spirit wait on God, but none come up to challenge any acceptance of God besides faith, which is a grace that presents the soul not in its own garments. But you will say, what needs all this? where is the man that trusts in his grace? Alas, where is the Christian that doth fully stand clear, and freely come his off his own righteousness? he is a rare Pilot indeed, that can steer his faith in so direct a course, as not now and then to knock upon this duty, and run on ground upon that grace. Abraham went in to Hagar; and the children of Abraham's faith are not perfectly dead to the Law, and may be found sometimes in Hagars arms, witness the flux and reflux of our faith, according to the various aspect of our obedience: when this seems full, then our faith is at a spring-tide, and covers all the mountains of our fears; but let it seem to wane in any service or duty, then the Jordan of our faith flies back, and leaves the soul naked. The devils spite is at Christ, and therefore since he could not hinder his landing, which he endeavoured all he could, nor work his will on his person when he was come; he goes now in a more refined way to darken the glory of his sufferings, and the sufficiency of his righteousness, by blending ours with his;